MILAN - - Six people have died and 81 were injured in a fire in a care home in Milan in the early hours on Friday morning.

 The fire happened at the Casa dei Coniugi home for the elderly and was quickly contained. However, the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Salad, told reporters “six deaths is a very heavy death toll.”

 The two most serious of those injured are currently being treated at the Policlinico and San Raffaele, the others are distributed among 15 hospital facilities between Milan and the outskirts.

 “They have reported more or less severe symptoms of smoke inhalation, but no patients have been burnt,” rescue workers report. The victims are five women and one man: two women aged 56 and 87 were killed by the flames, while a 73-year-old man and three women aged 75, 85 and 84 died of smoke inhalation.

 According to an initial reconstruction, the fire started in a specific room, the one in which the two women who passed away were located, and did not spread throughout the building. At the moment, firefighters are ruling out arson as a cause of the fire: "The dynamics are quite clear, the triggering cause is still to be ascertained," explained Nicola Micele, provincial commander of the Milan fire brigade. 

 Micele added "It seems likely that inside this room the fire somehow remained confined there from the point of view of the flames. At the time of the disaster, the facility had 173 guests.”

 Regarding the fire, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her sadness at the tragedy: “On behalf of myself and the government, I express my utmost solidarity with the people involved in the fire. Sincere condolences to the families of the victims and a wish for a speedy recovery to the injured.”

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